Vehicles are provided with seat restraints systems such as a seat belts in order to restrain occupants in the seat. The proper engagement and operation of the seat belt is critical to the safety of a driver and his or her occupants.
Seat belts often incorporate sensors that provide data to other vehicle restraint vehicle systems such as airbags. Deployment of an airbag may partially depend on the information supplied by the sensor in the seat belt, such as a sensor may determine the weight of an object in the seat. There are, however, several problems with detecting seat occupant weight. For example, when a seat occupant puts on the seat belt, the force of cinching the seat belt across ones' lap can cause a seat weight sensor to have false and inaccurate readings. Another example is when a child's safety seat is cinched tightly in the car seat, it can appear to the sensor that a heavy person is in the seat, which is the wrong reading required for the proper operation of the restraint system. A small passenger, such as a child should cause small tension, therefore the airbag system should deactivate.
A tension sensor with the ability of sensing the tension in the belt system can be used to more accurately differentiate the size of the vehicle occupant. Additionally, a tension sensor can also be used to indicate that the seat belt is properly tightened and properly engaged or latched.
International Publication No. WO 02/06092 A1 discloses a seat belt tension sensor assembly, which includes a housing, a pair of magnets, and a Hall effect sensor all arranged to be coupled to an “anchor side” of a seat belt system (not the “buckle” side). The arrangement of the magnets relative to the sensor is not as integrated into the overall seat belt assembly as desired. In addition, the pair of magnets are oriented face to face wherein the direction of magnetization is in the same axis for both magnets, not in an opposite orientation. It is believed that this arrangement limits the useful tension resolving capabilities of the device.
Accordingly, there is a need for a seat belt tension sensor assembly that minimizes of eliminates one or more of the problems set forth above.